just a parsnip soup

gruyere cubes, simplicity, nigel slater fan club

I promised you nourishing, okay?

I first made this soup when I lived alone (well, with Fran), in an attic apartment where I could only stand up straight down the middle. It had a small window, a galley kitchen, and no bathroom door. My landlord actively encouraged me to get more cats and rent was paid in cash. The interior steps to my little loft were electric teal. It was heaven.

I lived next to a cheese shop, a natural wine shop, and the best Vietnamese food in Portland. One chilly winter day, I bought expensive gruyere and dark sour bread and made this soup. To this day, I tell people about it. Relatively unprompted. It has indeed been five years. My love hasn’t faded, although I now have a bathroom door.

The other important part of this story is two books by Nigel Slater, gifted to me around the holidays by two chefs I worked for at the time (worked for, loved, etc.). Tender and Ripe. The photography is gorgeous, the writing brings me to the brink of digging a vegetable patch on the roof of my apartment building, and he has golden retrievers coming out of his ears. It’s perfect. Tender is for veggies, Ripe is for fruit. Buy them both.

parsnip soup, courtesy of my muse, nigel slater
serves 4

1 onion

2 large parsnips

4 tablespoons butter

3 cloves garlic

Splash of white wine, to deglaze, if you want

1 tablespoon flour

1/2 teaspoon chili flake

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

4 cups veggie stock

1/3 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons mild, grainy mustard

Gruyere, some, cubed

Bread, for serving

directions

Peel and coarsely chop the onion and parsnips. Melt the butter in a large, heavy pot, add the onion and once it has started to relax, add the parsnips.

Peel the garlic, smash it, and add it to the pan. Cook over medium heat, lid on, until the onion has colored lightly and the edges of the parsnips are mostly golden. Deglaze the pan with a splash of white wine.

Sprinkle the flour into the pot, stir in the chili flakes and turmeric, and cook for a minute or two to remove the raw taste of the flour. Add the stock, stir, and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat to keep the soup at a light simmer, and continue until vegetables are fully soft, about twenty minutes.

Pour into a blender (or use an immersion blender), and whiz to a creamy puree. Add the cream and mustard, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep seasoning with salt, pepper, and mustard until it tastes so good you just can’t stand it.

Drop cubes of cheese into warm soup bowls and ladle the soup over. Serve with bread.

side notes

Before I turn 30 this year (I’m not worried - are you worried?), I’ve decided I’m going to find “my things”. Like, my shampoo. Reveal yourself! Or my gradual self-tanner - after working in a melanoma lab/common sense, I fortunately (unfortunately) am a freak about sunscreen most of the time. My sweet, sweet tans that I worked so hard to get in high-school are but a distant, disturbing memory.

Anyway, all that is to say, if you have an absolute holy grail product (and I mean HOLY GRAIL da vinci code mary magdalene style) drop it in the comments, or keep it a secret you minx.